Thursday, February 1, 2018

I've been seeing photos of this one uni pasta dish from a new restaurant in downtown LA called Testa. I saw it on all the LA bloggers' feed that I just had to go try it! After all, I absolutely love uni.
I was invited to dinner at Testa, so of course I jumped on the chance.

We started dinner with some Hamachi crudo, orange conserva, champagne vinaigrette, yuzu kosho, fried shallot
This was a great start to our meal. The garnish did not overpower the delicate hamachi.

Our next appetizer is a heavier dish, that I had to order because I'm a corn fiend.
Crispy polenta, roasted yellow corn, shallots, garlic, tomatillo poblano, spiced aioli, cotija cheese ($12)
Bold flavors paired with this crispy polenta dish. A very satisfying and comforting plate and a fun fusion of Mexican street corn /elote with the Italian polenta.

Next is what we came for: Spaghettini, sea urchin, katsuobushi dashi ($23)I loved the delicate flavors and texture of the pasta and dashi, that enhanced and allowed the uni to take center stage.

The uni spaghettini was great and lived up to the hype, but we also got another pasta dish that held its own against the spaghettini! In fact, in terms of the overall dish, I might even like this one better. The dish I'm talking about is the Cavatelli, king trumpet mushroom, parmesan gremolata ($16)
The cavatelli was an umami flavor bomb. Loved the earthiness of the mushrooms with the garlicky gremolata.

Testa is also a nice place to grab a drink, thanks to prolific bartender Devon Espinosa who consulted on the menu. The drinks may be on the simpler side compared to some of the more avant-garde bars in LA, but they're well balanced, complex enough, and go well with the food. Smoke and spice lovers should go for the Smoke Break (mezcal, pineapple, jalapeno, lime, cilantro, salt, $13)
I also tried one more spirit-forward, Hope Passion (bourbon, apple brandy, amaro nonino, $13)

Testa is a wonderful addition to the South Park neighborhood of downtown LA. It's a cozy place for dinner and drinks with friends that are serving up some top notch food and craft cocktails.
Testa
1111 S Hope St #110
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 973-5013https://www.testadtla.com/